Menu screen display method and menu screen display device

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus provide for acquiring menu display instructions from a user, and generating and outputting the operating system menu screens for display.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/000,071, accorded a filing date of Feb. 3, 2011, which is a nationalphase application of International Application No. PCT/JP2009/001785,filed Apr. 17, 2009, which claims priority to Japanese Application No.JP 2008-170191, filed Jun. 30, 2008, the entire disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to techniques of displaying menu screensand particularly to techniques of displaying menu screens includingtechniques of displaying content icons for starting applicationprograms.

BACKGROUND ART

Predetermined application programs can be executed in game devices, PCs(personal computers), and the like. In order to start any one of theseprograms, menu screens can often be displayed as a function of a system.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

While executing any one of the programs, a user may wish to executeanother program in parallel or to start another program in place of therunning program. However, input of instructions with respect to runningprograms (e.g., an instruction for terminating the execution) and inputin such menu screens are usually entered in a clearly separate manner interms of the user interface. Therefore, when executing programs inparallel or switching programs, a user is required to use a differentuser interface so as to carry out these operations. On the other hand,there is a strong need for the development of unified user interfacesthat allow for various operations to be performed in order to present anovel user-friendly impression to a user.

In this background, a purpose of the present invention is to provide auser with a unified user interface regarding a menu screen.

Means for Solving the Problem

A menu screen display device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention comprises: acquiring a menu display instruction from a userrequesting a menu screen of a system to be displayed while anapplication program is running; and displaying, by a function of thesystem, a second menu screen in which, in addition to a content iconincluded in a first menu screen of the system that is displayed when theapplication program is not running, an instruction icon for entering aninstruction to the running application program is displayed while beingmixed with the content icon, when the menu display instruction isacquired.

The term “system” represents a system configured by basic hardware andbasic software, for example, a CPU or OS (operating system) of aninformation processor and also represents a configuration that enablesthe information processor to perform certain functions regardless of thepresence of an application program. This embodiment allows for a runningprogram to be directly terminated in a menu screen, thus providing auser interface that is unified in terms of the input of instructions forterminating the execution of the program and input in the menu screens.Thus, this allows for improving user operability; for example, whenwishing to terminate the running program so as to start another program,the operations of terminating and starting the respective programs canbe enabled in this second system menu screen.

Optional combinations of the aforementioned constituting elements andimplementations of the invention in the form of methods, apparatuses,systems, computer programs, recording media storing computer programs,and data structures may also be practiced as additional modes of thepresent invention.

Advantageous Effects

The present invention allows for a user to be provided with a unifieduser interface regarding a menu screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the basic configuration of a multimediareproduction system;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of amultimedia player;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation procedureperformed by a user of the multimedia player according to the presentembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed sequence of a programparallel execution process, which is performed in step S28 in FIG. 3when a content icon for starting another program is selected while afirst system menu screen or a second system menu screen is displayedduring the execution of a program;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the first system menuscreen that is displayed in step S10 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the execution screen of aprogram displayed in the step S14 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the second system menuscreen in step S20 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a condition where a slide show programand a music reproduction program are performed in parallel;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a condition where an A button ispressed for a brief period while a slide show program and a musicreproduction program are performed in parallel;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a third system menu screen when anicon for display during reproduction is displayed in an attention area;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a condition when an icon for displayduring reproduction is selected during the condition shown in FIG. 10;and

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a condition immediately after a stopicon, which is located on an operation panel, is selected by a user.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic configuration of a multimedia reproductionsystem. A multimedia reproduction system 10 is configured by amultimedia player 20 that functions as an information processor, atelevision set 30, a controller 42, a LAN (Local Area Network) 35, andthe like, having the multimedia player 20 in the center.

The television set 30 functions as a display and displays an image thatis based on a received television broadcast signal. The television set30 also has a function of displaying or outputting video pictures andsounds, which are output from the multimedia player 20, by beingconnected to the multimedia player 20.

The controller 42 is connected to the multimedia player 20 in a wired orwireless manner. The controller 42 has a home button 44, operationbuttons 46, and a directional button 48. The home button 44 is used as abutton that is pressed by a user mainly when terminating a runningapplication program or when displaying a menu screen. The operationbuttons 46 are used to select an icon included in a menu screen, whichis displayed on the television set 30, and to enter input for returningback to a pre-selection condition and also used as operation buttons forapplication programs such as games. The directional button 48 is used toscroll through a menu screen and to change an icon to be highlighted andalso used as an operation button for application programs such as games.When any of the home button 44, the operation buttons 46, and thedirectional button 48 is pressed, the controller 42 outputs a signalindicating the press of the button to the multimedia player 20.

The multimedia player 20 has a network control unit 22, and connecting anetwork cable 34 to the network control unit 22 allows for themultimedia player 20 to be connected to the LAN 35. Therefore, forexample, when external devices 37 and 39 are connected to the LAN 35,the multimedia player 20 can be connected to the external devices 37 and39 via the LAN 35. As described above, the multimedia player 20 and theexternal devices 37 and 39 can transmit and receive content to/from oneanother. The multimedia player 20 is not limited to be connected to aLAN and can be connected to other networks such as Internet.

The multimedia player 20 has a network control unit 22, a disk reader24, and a memory-card slot 26. The network control unit 22 has a networkconnection terminal (not shown), and mounting the network cable, whichis connected to the LAN 35, to the network connection terminal connectsthe external devices 37 and 39 and the multimedia player 20 via the LAN35. The network control unit 22 detects the external devices that areconnected to the LAN 35 and that transmit and receive data to/from thedetected external devices. The network control unit 22 receives, forexample, content, which is stored in the external devices 37 and 39, viathe LAN 35.

The disk reader 24 loads data stored in an optical disk 36. The diskreader 24 may have a function of a writing apparatus for writing data onthe optical disk 36. The disk reader 24 may load data, such as moviesand music albums, from the optical disk 36. The memory-card slot 26 isprovided so that a memory card 38 can be inserted and ejected. Thememory-card slot 26 loads data, which is stored in the loaded memorycard 38, and write data on the memory card 38. The memory-card slot 26may load data such as captured images and captured video from the memorycard 38.

The multimedia player 20 displays, on the television set 30, a menuscreen for instructing content reproduction. On the menu screen, an itemof content stored in the multimedia player 20 and an item of contentstored in the external devices 37 and 39 are displayed, and each item ofcontent can be reproduced by the multimedia player 20 based on a user'sinstruction.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration of amultimedia player. The multimedia player 20 includes anoperation-information acquisition unit 60, an input and output unit 62,a memory unit 64, a display output unit 66, a display control unit 68,and an application-program execution unit 70. The multimedia player 20can be implemented in hardware by the configurations of CPU's, harddisks, RAM, ROM, plot circuits, or the like, and in software by aprogram that fulfills functions such as a data input function, a datastoring function, an image processing function, and a drawing function.FIG. 2 depicts functional blocks implemented by the cooperation ofhardware and software. Thus, there are many ways of accomplishing thesefunctional blocks in various forms in accordance with the components ofthe combination of hardware and software.

The operation-information acquisition unit 60 has a directionacquisition unit 92 and an instruction acquisition unit 94. Through theoperation of the controller 42 by a user, the direction acquisition unit92 acquires an instruction regarding any one of four directions up,down, left, and right. The instruction acquisition unit 94 acquires aninstruction, for example, to reproduce the content, to stop reproducingthe content, or to call up a menu screen through the user's operation ofthe controller 42.

The input and output unit 62 has a network control unit 22, a diskreader 24, and a memory-card slot 26. The network control unit 22processes the input of the content stored in the external device and theoutput of various data via the network cable 34. The disk reader 24controls the input of the data stored in the optical disk 36 and thewriting of data to the optical disk 36. The memory-card slot 26 inputsand outputs data with the memory card 38.

The network control unit 22 detects an external device that is connectedto the LAN 35. The network control unit 22, the disk reader 24, and thememory-card slot 26 acquire information such as the item names of thecontent stored in the external devices 37 and 39, the optical disk 36,and the memory card 38, the data of icons that correspond to the itemsof content, and the data sizes, respectively, and store the informationin the memory unit 64. The data acquired by the respective units of theinput and output unit 62 is transmitted to the display output unit 66,the display control unit 68, the memory unit 64, and theapplication-program execution unit 70.

The memory unit 64 includes a nonvolatile memory device, for example, ahard disk. The network control unit 22, the disk reader 24, and thememory-card slot 26 acquire information such as the item names of thecontent stored in the external devices 37 and 39, the optical disk 36,and the memory card 38, the data on the icons that correspond to theitems of content, and their data sizes and store the information in thememory unit 64.

The memory unit 64 stores the data of a plurality of function icons thatrepresent the types of regeneration functions, reproducible content suchas moving images, still images, and music, various types of programssuch as an application program executed by the application-programexecution unit 70, and the data of folder icons that represent thedisplay unit of content. Content icons that represent the items ofcontents stored in the external devices 37 and 39, the optical disk 36,and the memory card 38 are acquired by the network control unit 22, thedisk reader 24, and the memory-card slot 26 from the external devices 37and 39, the optical disk 36, and the memory card 38, respectively, andstored in the memory unit 64. These function icons, content icons, andfolder icons are used as constituent elements that constitute a menuscreen and are displayed in a user-selectable manner on the menu screen.The function icons, content icons, and folder icons may be uncompressedimages such as bitmap images or compressed images such as JPEG images.

The display output unit 66 includes: an output buffer 100 thattemporarily stores reproduction data, which is to be output to thetelevision set 30, before the reproduction data is output; an on-screenbuffer 102 that temporarily stores image data for on-screen display,which is to be output to the television set 30, before the image data isoutput; and a synthesis processor 98 that synthesizes reproduction dataand image data.

The on-screen buffer 102 stores, for example, the menu screen producedby the display control unit 68 and the image data of the backgroundscreen both as the image data for on-screen display. The synthesisprocessor 98 synthesizes the reproduction data stored in the outputbuffer 100 and the image data of the menu screen and the backgroundscreen stored in the on-screen buffer 102, then converts synthesizeddata into an analog signal, and outputs the analog signal to thetelevision set 30.

The display control unit 68 includes: a menu management unit 104 thatmanages the type of reproduction function and the content correspondingto the reproduction function as a menu item; a menu-screen generatingunit 108 that processes the movement of an icon in a menu screen andgenerates the menu screen; and a menu constituting unit 110 thatconfigures a menu.

In addition to storing the item of the content stored in the memory unit64 and the item of the content to be input via the input and output unit62, the menu management unit 104 stores the reproduction function andthe content that are being selected at the moment. The “reproductionfunction” includes, for example, a still-image reproduction function, amusic reproduction function, a moving-image reproduction function, abroadcast display function, and a game execution function, and itfurther includes various setting functions and a network-apparatusselection function. The menu management unit 104 associates the item ofcontent with the type of a content reproduction function and with aplurality of folder icons.

The menu-screen generating unit 108 generates a menu screen configuredwith an array of a plurality of function icons that are lined up in ahorizontal direction and an array of a plurality of content icons orfolder icons that are lined up in a vertical direction. These two arrayscross each other near the center of the screen and form a cross-shapedarray. The menu-screen generating unit 108 displays the function iconsand either the content icons or folder icons that are highlighted at ornear the intersection of the cross-shaped array so that they can bedistinguished from other icons in their appearance. Furthermore, withrespect to each of the multiple folder icons, the menu-screen generatingunit 108 acquires, from the memory unit 64, one of content iconsrepresenting related content as a folder attachment image. Themenu-screen generating unit 108 then displays the folder attachmentimage and the folder icon so that the folder attachment image isincluded in the folder icon superimposed thereon.

The menu-screen generating unit 108 performs processing as to thescroll-displaying of arrays of function icons, folder icons, and contenticons, and the highlight-displaying of a function icon, a folder icon,or a content icon to which attention is given. A highlighted icon isprovided in a different format from other icons. For example, thehighlighted icon is displayed in a color different from that of othericons with the change thereto or is displayed in an enlarged manner withthe change thereto.

The menu constituting unit 110 adds or deletes a content icon includedin a menu so as to configure a system menu. More specifically, the menuconstituting unit 110 associates each of a plurality of content icons toeach of the function icons and determines the order of arranging thecontent icons in a content icon array 123. When constituting a secondsystem menu, the menu constituting unit 110 arranges an end icon and anicon for display during reproduction, which will be describedhereinafter, so that the end icon and the icon for display duringreproduction are inserted between a plurality of content icons, amongthe content icons included in the first system menu, that are arrangedin a line in the content icon array 123. The icon for display duringreproduction also functions as an operation-panel display icon fordisplaying an operation panel, which allows a user to enter aninstruction regarding the reproduction state of music content. Themenu-screen generating unit 108 arranges the end icon and the icon fordisplay during reproduction in a predetermined area and highlight themso that they are visually noticeable by the user in a given case.

By executing a reproduction application program stored in the memoryunit 64, the application-program execution unit 70 decodes the codeddata of content such as a moving image, a still image, or music that isloaded by the disk reader 24 from the optical disk 36, content that isloaded by the memory-card slot 26 from the memory card 38, or contentthat is loaded from the memory unit 64 so as to reproduce the content.The application-program execution unit 70 transmits the image or thesound reproduced in such a manner to the display output unit 66. Basedon a user's instruction acquired by the operation-informationacquisition unit 60, the application-program execution unit 70 controlsswitching of a reproduction function, start and stop of the reproductionof the content, and loading of the data from the memory unit 64, basedon the function of the reproduction application program that is running.

By executing a browser program stored in the memory unit 64, theapplication-program execution unit 70 transmits and receives data suchas content via the LAN 35. By executing a chat program stored in thememory unit 64, the application-program execution unit 70 transmits andreceives data that indicates the content of the chat via the LAN 35. Byexecuting a game program loaded by the disk reader from the optical disk36 or a game program loaded from the memory unit 64, theapplication-program execution unit 70 transmits the video pictures andthe sounds of the game to the display output unit 66.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation procedureperformed by a user of a multimedia player 20 according to the presentembodiment. Turing on the power of the multimedia player 20 starts theprocess of the flowchart.

When the power of the multimedia player 20 is turned on, the menuconstituting unit 110 configures the first system menu, and the displayoutput unit 66 outputs the first system menu screen, which displays apart of the configured first system menu to the television set 30 so asto display the first system menu screen (S10).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first system menuscreen 120 that is displayed in the step S10 in FIG. 3. The first systemmenu screen 120 is used as a menu screen of the system and is a menuscreen that is displayed by a function of the system. In the firstsystem menu screen 120, a two-dimensional array in which the functionicon array 122 orthogonally intersects the content icon array 123 isdisplayed.

The function icon array 122 is configured by function icons such as amoving image icon 126, a game icon 128, a network icon 130, or a friendicon 132, which represent the types of reproduction functions of themultimedia player 20, that are arranged in a line in a horizontaldirection. The content icon array 123 is configured by content iconsaligned in a line in a vertical direction, which indicate the respectivecontent.

The “content icon” includes an icon for starting an application programsuch as a game program and an icon that indicates content such as amoving image, a still image, or music. With regard to the content suchas a moving image, a still image, or music, a reproduction applicationprogram, such as a player or a slide show, is also started by the user'sselection. Therefore, a content icon is also used as a start icon tostart an application program. The first system menu screen 120 ispresented as an on-screen display superimposed upon the front face of acontent image.

A function icon arranged in the area where the function icon array 122and the content icon array 123 intersect (intersection area 124) iscolored differently from the other function icons and enlarged asillustrated. The intersection area 124 is located at a predeterminedposition in the first system menu screen 120. According to the user'sinstruction via the operation-information acquisition unit 60, theentirety of the function icon array 122 moves left or right so as tochange the color and size of the function icon arranged in theintersection area 124. Positioning a function icon in the intersectionarea 124 is hereinafter referred to as selecting a function icon. A usercan select a desired function icon merely by specifying the lateraldirection of left or right.

The menu-screen generating unit 108 moves function icons left or rightby scrolling the whole area of the function icon array 122 left orright. While the function icons are moved left or right, the menu-screengenerating unit 108 displays each of them with the same color and sizebut changes the color and size of only the function icon arranged in theintersection area 124. To change the color, the menu-screen generatingunit 108 may change attributes of the function icon such as thebrightness, chroma, and hue, or may display the icon in a flashingmanner. In such way, since a function icon arranged in the intersectionarea 124 is displayed in a different display format from the otherfunction icons, a user can select a medium easily.

When there is no function icon in the intersection area 124 while thefunction icons are moving left or right, the menu-screen generating unit108 does not display the content icon array 123. When any of thefunction icons are arranged in the intersection area 124, themenu-screen generating unit 108 may display, in an extended manner, thecontent icon array 123 in a manner such that the array extends upwardand downward from the intersection area 124, or may fade thealready-extended content icon array 123 into the first system menuscreen 120. By fading the extended content icon array 123 into thescreen, blurred images of the icons in the array are gradually madeclear. In other words, the intensity of a filter applied to the icons isgradually reduced with time. Also, if the folder icons and folderattachment images are the objects configured by mapping textures ontopolygons, the Z values of the polygons may be manipulated. By graduallyincreasing or decreasing the Z values of the polygons from the initialvalues, the extended content icon array 123 will be displayed in such amanner as to move downward or upward from the front or back of thescreen vertical axis to the level where the menu screen is defined.Also, by gradually increasing the a values of the textures from theinitial values, the extended content icon array 123 may be displayed ina manner such that the transparent array gradually becomes opaque.Further, the extended content icon array 123 may be displayed in such amanner as to move from the right or left edge of the screen to theintersection area 124. The display methods stated above may be used incombination.

By merely scrolling the function icons left or right with theintersection area 124 as the target point, the user can recognizecontent adaptable to the reproduction function. Contrarily, if aninstruction as to the lateral direction is provided while the contenticon array 123 is displayed, the menu-screen generating unit 108displays the content icon array 123 such that the extended content iconarray 123 is withdrawn toward the intersection area 124 or fade theextended content icon array 123 out from the first system menu screen120. A means used for a fade-out is the same as that for a fade-in.

An attention area 135 located near the center of the first system menuscreen 120 is an area in which the user's target icon is displayed. Theattention area 135 is placed near the lower part of the intersectionarea 124. When a function icon that is arranged in the intersection area124 is changed by scrolling a function icon in a lateral direction, themenu-screen generating unit 108 highlights the function icon arranged inthe intersection area 124 and places, in the content icon array 123, thecontent icon that belongs to the function icon arranged in theintersection area 124. The menu-screen generating unit 108 highlightsthe content icon placed in the attention area 135 among the contenticons placed in the content icon array 123.

The content icon is not selected only by being placed in the attentionarea 135. The content icon is selected only by the operation of apredetermined button among the operation buttons 46 while the contenticon is placed in the attention area 135. Thus, such a condition of thecontent icon being placed in the attention area 135 is referred to asthe content icon being temporarily selected. A description display area144 is provided near the right side of the attention area 135. Thedescription of the content displayed in the attention area 135 isdisplayed in the description display area 144.

When the operation-information acquisition unit 60 acquires the user'sinstruction as to the longitudinal direction of up or down, contenticons and folder icons are moved upward or downward according to theinstruction. The menu-screen generating unit 108 moves the content iconsand the folder icons upward or downward by scrolling up or down theentire area of the content icon array 123.

The menu-screen generating unit 108 generates a system menu screen inwhich a content icon or a folder icon, among the content icons placed inthe content icon array 123, that is placed in an area other than theattention area 135 is a normal size and in which a content icon or afolder icon that is placed in the attention area 135 is enlarged beyondthe normal size as an attention icon. The menu-screen generating unit108 may also change attributes of the attention icon such as thebrightness, chroma, and hue, or may display the icon flashing.

The menu-screen generating unit 108 displays the function icon array 122slightly above the vertical center of the first system menu screen 120,and displays the content icon array 123 slightly to the left of thehorizontal center of the first system menu screen 120.

The moving image icon 126 represents a moving image reproductionfunction and should be selected when a moving image is reproduced. Amoving image to be reproduced is a recorded image captured by a digitalvideo camera or an image loaded from the optical disk 36 or an externaldevice, which are encoded in a specific compression format. A folderattachment image that is displayed in an extended manner when the movingimage icon 126 is located in the intersection area 124 is, for example,a thumbnail of a jacket image distributed with a moving image by avendor or a thumbnail of a given frame of a moving image. The thumbnailmay be a moving image. When there is no image suitable for the folderattachment image, the moving image icon 126 may be used instead. As thefolder information, view information (such as genre, artist, capturemonth and capture year of a moving image, alphabetical order, and allimages) and the number of moving images are displayed. Also, informationincluding the title of the moving image, the recording date, and thereproduction time is displayed as the content information.

The game icon 128 represents a game execution function and should beselected when a game program is executed. An object to be executed is agame program stored in the memory unit 64 or a game program loaded fromthe optical disk 36. A folder attachment image that is displayed in anextended manner when the game icon 128 is located in the intersectionarea 124 is, for example, a thumbnail of a jacket image distributed witha game program by a vendor, an icon representing a game program, athumbnail of a given frame of a moving image provided in a game, or athumbnail of an image of a game character. The thumbnail may be a movingimage. When there is no image suitable for the folder attachment image,the game icon 128 may be used instead. As the folder information, viewinformation (such as genre, alphabetical order, and all programs) andthe number of application programs are displayed. Also, informationincluding the title of the game program and the date on which theprogram was installed is displayed as content information.

The network icon 130 represents a network execution function and shouldbe selected when an application program for connecting to a network isexecuted. An object to be executed is a browser program stored in thememory unit 64. The friend icon 132 represents a chat function on anetwork and should be selected when an application program for chattingvia a network is executed. An object to be executed is a chat programstored in the memory unit 64.

In addition to these icons, although not shown in FIG. 5, function iconsalso include a photo icon and a music icon. The photo icon represents astill image reproduction function and should be selected when a stillimage is reproduced. The images to be reproduced are still images mainlycaptured by a digital camera, and the images are, for example, loadedfrom the memory card 38. A folder attachment image that is displayed inan extended manner when the photo icon is located in the intersectionarea 124 is, for example, a thumbnail of a still image. When there is noimage suitable for the folder attachment image, the photo icon may beused instead. As the folder information, view information (such ascapture month and capture year of a still image, album, alphabeticalorder, and all photos) and the number of still images are displayed.Also, capture information including the capture date and the file sizeis displayed as content information.

The music icon represents a music reproduction function and should beselected when music data is reproduced. Music data to be reproduced isgenerated, for example, by encoding data loaded from the optical disk 36in a specific compression format. A folder attachment image that isdisplayed in an extended manner when the music icon is located in theintersection area 124 is, for example, a thumbnail of a jacket image ofa song distributed with music data by a vendor or a thumbnail of avisual effect image generated from part of music data through a specificprocess. When there is no image suitable for the folder attachmentimage, the music icon may be used instead. As the folder information,view information (such as genre, album, artist, recording year,alphabetical order, and all music) and the number of pieces of musicdata are displayed. Also, information including the song title, thealbum title, and the playing time is displayed as the contentinformation.

The first system menu is configured by the above-mentioned functionicons and content icons. A part of the function icons included in thefirst system menu configured as described above is displayed in such amanner that all the function icons can be displayed by scrolling. Amongthe content icons included in the first system menu, the content iconsthat belong to the function icons located in the content icon array 123are displayed while preventing the content icons that belong to otherfunction icons from being displayed.

FIG. 3 is referred back. When the first system menu screen 120 isdisplayed and when any of the content icons is selected by a user (S12),the instruction acquisition unit 94 acquires an instruction forselecting the content icon from the controller 42, and theapplication-program execution unit 70 starts the application programthat corresponds to the selected content icon (S14).

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the execution screen ofan application program displayed in the step S14 in FIG. 3. FIG. 6illustrates a game execution screen 160 of a game program simulating carracing. As shown in FIG. 6, upon the execution of the applicationprogram, an execution screen is displayed on the television set 30 inaccordance with the execution of the application program.

FIG. 3 is referred back. When a home button 44 is pressed by a user soas to request support from the system during the execution of theapplication program and then releases it within a predetermined periodof time (hereinafter, referred to as pressing for a brief period) (S16),the instruction acquisition unit 94 acquires, from the user, a menudisplay instruction that requests a system menu screen to be displayedby a function of the operating system software.

When the home button 44 is pressed for more than a predetermined time(hereinafter, referred to as pressing for a long period), themenu-screen generating unit 108 generates a termination confirmationscreen for the running application program (not shown). Buttonsindicating “Yes” or “No,” respectively, are displayed in the terminationconfirmation screen along with a message, “Exit the applicationprogram?”

When the button indicating “Yes” is selected by a user by use of thecontroller 42 and an instruction for terminating the running applicationprogram is then acquired by the instruction acquisition unit 94, theapplication-program execution unit 70 terminates the running applicationprogram. The menu-screen generating unit 108 generates the first systemmenu screen 120 at this time, just like when the power is turned on, anddisplays the first system menu screen 120 on the television set 30.

When the button indicating “No” is selected by the user by use of thecontroller 42 and an instruction for preventing the termination of therunning application program is then acquired by the instructionacquisition unit 94, the application-program execution unit 70 keepsexecuting the application program. The display output unit 66 terminatesthe display of the first system menu screen 120 at this time and returnsto the execution screen of the application program.

When a menu display instruction is acquired, the menu constituting unit110 determines whether or not the game program is running by referringto the running application program (S18). When an application programother than the game program is running (N in S18), the menu constitutingunit 110 configures the first system menu, which includes function iconsand content icons. The menu-screen generating unit 108 generates thefirst system menu screen 120 on which a part of the function icons andcontent icons is displayed in such a manner that all the function iconsand the content icons that configure the first system menu can beselected by a user through scrolling. The display output unit 66displays the generated first system menu screen 120 on the televisionset 30 (S26). The application-program execution unit 70 keepsmaintaining the execution of the application program at this time.

The display output unit 66 displays the second system menu screen 170 onthe television set 30 at this time in such a manner that the secondoperating system menu screen 170 is displayed over the runningapplication program when the home button 44 is pressed for a briefperiod. Pressing the home button 44 causes the instruction acquisitionunit 94 to acquire, from the user, a menu display instruction thatrequests a system menu screen to be displayed by a function of theoperating system software. In response to the pressing of the homebutton 44, the execution screen of the running application program isdisplayed on a background screen 121. This allows the user to recognizethat the application program is running.

The application-program execution unit 70 may temporarily stop theapplication program, which is running when the home button 44 is pressedfor a brief period, and may temporarily stop the execution screen of theapplication program. The display output unit 66 may display the secondsystem menu screen 170 so that the second system menu screen 170 isdisplayed over the execution screen of the application program that istemporarily stopped in this manner.

In the embodiment, when displaying a system menu screen such as thefirst system menu screen 120, the system menu screen, in which thosecontent icons that were arranged in the attention area 135 when thedisplay of the system menu screen was last ended are reproduced to bearranged again in the attention area 135, is displayed. This allows theuser to quickly find content icons that he/she wishes to select when thesystem menu screen is displayed.

When the first system menu screen 120 is displayed, the user can startanother application program in parallel by selecting any of the contenticons (S28). Such a process of starting an application program inparallel is hereinafter described.

The user can select to return to the execution screen of the applicationprogram by ending the display of the first system menu screen bypressing a predetermined button among the operation button 46 (S30).When a game program is running (Y in S18), the menu constituting unit110 displays the second system menu screen 170 (S20). Theapplication-program execution unit 70 continues to maintain theexecution of the game program also at this time.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the second system menuscreen 170 in the step S20 in FIG. 3. The second system menu screen 170is also used as a menu screen of the system and is also a menu screenthat is displayed by a function of the system. The menu constitutingunit 110 configures an end icon 172 for terminating the running gameprogram and the second system menu that includes the content iconsincluded in the first system menu. The menu constituting unit 110arranges the end icon 172 in such a manner that the end icon 172 isinserted in the line of the content icons that are lined up in one linein the content icon array 123 at this time. The menu constituting unit110 inserts the end icon 172 above the content icon that was located inthe attention area 135 when the display of the system menu screen waspreviously ended.

The menu-screen generating unit 108 generates the second system menuscreen 170 that includes a part of the configured second system menu insuch a manner that each of the end icon 172 and a plurality of contenticons that are included in the configured second system menu can beselected by scrolling. The second system menu screen may be generatedthat includes an instruction icon, instead of the end icon 172, forinputting an instruction to the running application program.

When displaying the end icon 172 in the attention area 135, themenu-screen generating unit 108 displays the message “exit game” in thedescription display area 144 so as to indicate to the user that the endicon 172 is for terminating the game application program. Also, bydisplaying “Game A” underneath the message, the menu-screen generatingunit 108 indicates to the user that the application program to beterminated is the application program of Game A.

When displaying the second system menu screen 170 by pressing the homebutton 44 for a brief period for the first time after executing the gameprogram, the menu-screen generating unit 108 displays the end icon 172in an noticeable manner on the television set 30 by placing the end icon172 in the attention area 135. This clearly indicates to the user, inthe menu screen, that the running game program can be terminated.

Just like when the first system menu screen is displayed in the step S26in FIG. 3, the display output unit 66 displays the second system menuscreen 170 on the television set 30 in such a manner that the secondsystem menu screen 170 is displayed over the running game program whenthe home button 44 is pressed for a brief period.

In the content icon array 123, a Game B icon 138, a Game A icon 136, aGame C icon 140, and a Game D icon 142 are lined up in order from thetop. The menu constituting unit 110 configures the second system menu byinserting the end icon 172 above the Game A icon 136, for starting agame program A that is running, and below the Game B icon 138.Displaying while inserting the end icon 172 between the plurality ofcontent icons that are lined up as described above allows for theselection of the end icon 172 with an operation feeling similar to thatof when the selection of the content icon is made, allowing for a userinterface with a sense of unity to be provided.

Furthermore, the menu-screen generating unit 108 generates the secondsystem menu screen 170 in a simplified form in which the display load isreduced compared to the first system menu screen 120. The processingload of the game program during the execution is larger than that of theapplication program. Reducing the display load of the second system menuscreen 170 in this manner allows for the suppression of any furtherincrease of the processing load due to the display of the second systemmenu screen 170 during the execution of the game program.

More specifically, when displaying the first system menu screen 120, themenu-screen generating unit 108 highlights a game icon for which athumbnail of the still image is displayed, for example, when the contenticon of the game program is located in the attention area 135, and alsogenerates the first system menu screen 120, which displays a thumbnailof a moving image indicating game program, in an area between theattention area 135 and the description display area 144 that is providedby further shifting the attention area 135 or the description displayarea 144 to the right. However, when displaying the second system menuscreen 170, the menu-screen generating unit 108 highlights the game iconfor which a thumbnail of the still image is displayed and generates thesecond system menu screen 170 in which the description display area 144for reproducing the moving image is not provided. Preventing thereproduction of the moving image as described above allows for reductionof the display load. The respective thumbnails of the moving image andthe still image that indicate the game program are stored in the memoryunit 64 when the game program is stored.

When displaying the first system menu screen 120, the menu-screengenerating unit 108 generates the first system menu screen 120 in whichvarious icons for the corresponding application program are employed ascontent icons to be displayed in the content icon array 123. On theother hand, when displaying the second system menu screen 170, themenu-screen generating unit 108 selects content icons of images with adisplay load that is lower than that of the first system menu screen120, from selections of less variety compared to those of the firstsystem menu screen 120 and generates the second system menu screen 170.In addition, when displaying the first system menu screen 120, themenu-screen generating unit 108 may, for example, generate the firstsystem menu screen 120, which displays a thumbnail that indicatescontent in a content icon displayed in the content icon array 123. Whendisplaying the second system menu screen 170, the menu-screen generatingunit 108 may generate the second system menu screen 170 that preventsthe display of the thumbnail in the content icon displayed in thecontent icon array 123.

When the second system menu screen 170 is displayed, the user can notonly select the content icon (S28) or select to return back to thecondition where the game program is running (S30) but also select theend icon 172. When the end icon 172 is selected by the user (S22), theapplication-program execution unit 70 terminates the running gameprogram, and the display output unit 66 terminates the display of thesecond system menu screen 170. Returning back to the step S10, thedisplay output unit 66 then displays the first system menu screen 120 onthe television set 30.

The menu constituting unit 110 configures the first system menu bydeleting the end icon 172 from the second system menu. As shown in FIG.5, the menu-screen generating unit 108 generates the first system menuscreen 120 to be such as that which is obtained by deleting only the endicon 172 from the second system menu screen 170 displayed when the endicon 172 was selected and by moving up the content icons, which werelocated below the end icon 172 in the content icon array 123, by one.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed sequence of a programparallel execution process that is performed in the step S28 in FIG. 3,when a content icon for starting another application program is selectedwhile the first system menu screen 120 or the second system menu screen170 is displayed during the execution of an application program.

The application-program execution unit 70 determines whether or not theapplication program corresponding to the selected content icon can runin parallel with the running application program (S50). A map that showsa correspondence relationship of the application program that can run inparallel is stored in ROM or in the memory unit 64. Referring to themap, the application-program execution unit 70 determines whether or notthe application program corresponding to the selected content icon canrun in parallel with the running application program.

When the application program corresponding to the content icon selectedin the first system menu screen 120 or the second system menu screen 170cannot run in parallel with the running application program even whenthe home button 44 is pressed for a brief period during the execution ofthe application program (N in S50), the display control unit 68generates a termination confirmation screen for a user to select whetheror not to terminate the running application program (S60). Thistermination confirmation screen is the same as the one mentioned above.

When the button indicating “No” is selected and rejection of thetermination of the running application program is selected (S62), theexecution of the application program corresponding to the content iconselected in the first system menu screen 120 or the second system menuscreen 170 is prevented, and the application program that has been onhold is resumed, returning back to the step S16 in FIG. 3. When thebutton indicating “Yes” is selected and the termination of the runningapplication program is selected (S64), the application-program executionunit 70 terminates the running application program, and the displayoutput unit 66 ends the display of the first system menu screen 120 orthe second system menu screen 170 (S66).

The application-program execution unit 70 then determines whether or notthe application program, which corresponds to the content icon selectedin the first system menu screen 120 or in the second system menu screen170, can be directly started. Information indicating applicationprograms that cannot be started directly from the first system menuscreen 120 or the second system menu screen 170 is stored in ROM or inthe memory unit 64. Referring to the information, theapplication-program execution unit 70 determines whether or not theapplication program that corresponds to the selected content icon can bestarted directly from the first system menu screen 120 or the secondsystem menu screen 170 (S68).

When the application program can be directly started (Y in S68), theapplication-program execution unit 70 starts an application program thatcorresponds to the selected content icon, the application program beingdifferent from the one that was executed (S70). When the applicationprogram cannot be directly started (N in S68), the flow moves to thestep S10 in FIG. 3. The menu-screen generating unit 108 generates thefirst system menu screen 120 in which the icon corresponding to theapplication program is located in the attention area 135 and highlightedat this time.

In the embodiment, when the first system menu screen 120 is displayedwhile an application program other than a game program is running andwhen the content icon of the memory card 38, which is high-order contentthat includes low-order content, is selected by a user from the firstsystem menu screen 120, the menu-screen generating unit 108 generatesthe first system menu screen 120 in which the low-order contentsincluded in the memory card 38 are vertically arranged in a line nearthe right side of the content icon of the memory card 38. Themenu-screen generating unit 108 displays the thumbnail of the low-ordercontent in the content icon of the low-order content at this time.

On the other hand, when the second system menu screen 170 is displayedwhile the game program is running and when the content icon of thememory card 38 is selected by a user from the second system menu screen170, the menu-screen generating unit 108 prevents the display of acontent icon that indicates the low-order content included in the memorycard 38 in the second system menu screen 170. More specifically, whenthe content icon of the memory card 38 is selected by the user while thesecond system menu screen 170 is being displayed, the menu-screengenerating unit 108 first generates a termination confirmation screenfor the user to confirm whether or not to terminate the running gameprogram, and the display output unit 66 displays the terminationconfirmation screen, instead of the second system menu screen 170, onthe television set 30. This termination confirmation screen is the sameas the one mentioned above.

When an instruction for terminating the running game program from theuser is acquired by the instruction acquisition unit 94, the menu-screengenerating unit 108 generates the first system menu screen 120 in whichcontent icons that indicate the low-order contents stored in the memorycard 38 are vertically arranged in a line near the right side of thecontent icon array 123. The display output unit 66 displays the firstsystem menu screen 120, instead of the termination confirmation screen,on the television set 30. The menu-screen generating unit 108 providesan attention area in a part of the area in which the content icons ofthe low-order content are arranged in a line. The menu-screen generatingunit 108 arranges the content icon of one unit of low-order content inthe attention area and highlights the content icon arranged in theattention area so that the content icon is temporarily selected.

Displaying, next to the content icon of the high-order content, thecontent icons of the low-order content included in the high-ordercontent when the content icon of the high-order content is selected bythe user in the second system menu screen 170 after displaying thetermination confirmation screen as described above allows the user tofeel as if the icons are displayed on the same system menu screen,providing a sense of unity to the user interface.

The processing load is large during the execution of the game program.Preventing the display of the content icon of the low-order contentduring the execution of the game program allows for the further increaseof the processing load to be suppressed. The high-order content,including the low-order content, is not limited to the memory card 38and may be, for example, a content icon of a CD (Compact Disc)representing other external storage or a content icon of a DVD (DigitalVersatile Disc). The high-order content may be a folder icon thatincludes a music file or a moving image file as low-order content.

In the embodiment, even when the content icon of the high-order contentthat includes the low-order content is selected, if the high-ordercontent is a music file or a moving image DVD, the reproduction of aselected music CD or moving image DVD is started without displaying thecontent icon of the low-order content as an application program that canbe directly started (Y in S68).

When the parallel execution is possible (Y in S50), theapplication-program execution unit 70 further starts another applicationprogram that corresponds to the selected content icon in parallel withthe running application program (S52). When the home button 44 ispressed for a brief period by a user so as to request support from thesystem while the two application programs are running in parallel (S54),the menu constituting unit 110 executes a menu display process duringthe parallel execution (S56). The application-program execution unit 70determines whether or not the two application programs are continuouslyrunning as a result of the menu display process during the parallelexecution and of the user entering input as to his/her selection via thecontroller 42 (S58). When they are running in parallel (Y in S58), theflow returns to the step S 54. When one of the two running applicationin parallel is terminated (N in S58), the flow moves to the step S16 inFIG. 3. A detailed description will be made hereinafter regarding themenu display process during the parallel execution in association withFIGS. 8-12.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a condition where a slide show programand a music reproduction program are executed in parallel. When theslide show program is executed, still images stored in the memory unit64 are displayed in order on the television set 30. The user can displaythe first system menu screen 120 by pressing the home button 44 for abrief period and start a music reproduction program by selecting acontent icon of music stored in the memory unit 64. When the musicreproduction program is started and the content of the music isreproduced, the display output unit 66 ends the display of the firstsystem menu screen 120. Therefore, a still image is displayed on thetelevision set 30 as shown in FIG. 8, and a sound is output from aspeaker (not shown) by reproducing music data stored in the memory unit64.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a condition where the home button 44 ispressed for a brief period while a slide show program and a musicreproduction program are performed in parallel. When the home button 44is pressed for a brief period, the content icon located in the attentionarea 135, which was displayed when the home button 44 was pressed lasttime, is displayed again in the attention area 135. In the example shownin FIG. 9, since a folder icon 220 that indicates a folder stored in thecontent of music is previously displayed in the attention area 135, thefolder icon 220 is also displayed in the attention area 135 in thiscase, and a folder icon 222 and a folder icon 224 are arranged under thefolder icon 220.

Since the folder icon 220 stored in the content of music is displayed inthe attention area 135, a music icon 212 is enlarged and highlighted inthe intersection area 124. A photo icon 214 is arranged to the left ofthe music icon 212. The display output unit 66 displays a third systemmenu screen 210 in such a manner that the third system menu screen 210is displayed over a still image stored in the memory unit 64 that isbeing displayed as the execution screen of the slide show program. Thethird system menu screen 210 is also used as a menu screen of the systemand is also a menu screen that is displayed by a function of the system.This allows for a slide-show execution screen 200 to be displayed in thebackground screen 121 and allows the user to recognize that the slideshow program is running.

The description display area 144 moves to the right at this time, and acontent icon display area 230 is provided between the attention area 135and the description display area 144. In the content icon display area230, content icons are displayed while being aligned in a line in avertical direction, which indicate the respective contents stored in afolder indicated by the folder icon 220 displayed in the attention area135. The attention area 231 is provided in the high-order part of thecontent icon display area 230, and content icons that indicate othercontents included in the folder are displayed. In the example shown inFIG. 9, the content icon 232 is displayed in the attention area 231, andthe content icon 234 and the content icon 236 are displayed under thecontent icon 232.

The album name of music content that is being reproduced, in otherwords, the name of the folder indicated by the folder icon 220 isdisplayed in the description display area 144, and the song title of themusic content that is being reproduced is displayed under the foldername. Further, the total playing time of the song is displayed under thesong title.

In the embodiment, when the home button 44 is pressed for a brief periodwhile the music reproduction program is running in parallel with anotherapplication program, the third system menu is configured in which anicon for display during reproduction is added, which indicates that themusic is being reproduced by the music reproduction program. Themenu-screen generating unit 108 generates the third system menu screen210, which includes a part of the configured third system menu in such amanner that each of the icon for display during reproduction and aplurality of content icons that are included in the configured thirdsystem menu can be selectable by scrolling. When a predetermined buttonamong the operation buttons 46 is pressed while only the musicreproduction program is running, the menu-screen generating unit 108displays an operation panel using the entire screen.

The menu constituting unit 110 configures the third system menu in whichan icon 240 for display during reproduction is inserted in a pluralityof content icons that are lined up in one line in the content icon array123 of the music icon 212. The menu constituting unit 110 may insert theicon for display during reproduction 240 above the content icon that waslocated in the attention area 135 when the display of the system menuscreen was last ended. Displaying while inserting the icon for displayduring reproduction 240 between the plurality of content icons that arelined up as described above allows for the selection of the icon fordisplay during reproduction 240 with an operation feeling similar tothat of when the selection of the content icon is made, allowing for auser interface with a sense of unity to be provided.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a third system menu screen 210 whenthe icon 240 for display during reproduction is displayed in theattention area 135. The content icon displayed in the attention area 231is highlighted in FIG. 9. The icon 240 for display during reproductioncan be displayed in the attention area 135 as shown in FIG. 10 by, forexample, operating the directional button 48 so as to move an icon to behighlighted to the attention area 135 and by further scrolling of avertical direction. In the example shown in FIG. 10, a folder icon 242and a folder icon 244 are displayed under the icon 240 for displayduring reproduction.

Moving the icon highlighted in the attention area 135 deletes thecontent icon display area 230, allowing for the description display area144 to be displayed again in the area where the content icon displayarea 230 used to be. The status of the music reproduction iscontinuously displayed in the description display area 144. As describedabove, displaying the icon 240 for display during reproduction allowsfor the operation of a content being reproduced and provides a unifiedinterface.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a condition when the icon 240 fordisplay during reproduction is selected in the condition shown in FIG.10. When the icon 240 for display during reproduction is selected, themenu-screen generating unit 108 generates a third system menu screen 210in which an operation panel 250 is displayed in the bottom-right area.The operation panel 250 displays a previous song icon 252, a next songicon 254, a stop icon 256, a repeat icon 258, a sound volume icon 260, aplaying-time display bar 262, a playing-time display area 264, and areproduction-status display area 266. A user can enter an instruction tothe reproduction state of a music content by operating, for example, thedirectional button 48 and the operation buttons 46 so as to select theprevious song icon 252, the next song icon 254, the stop icon 256, therepeat icon 258, and the sound volume icon 260.

For example, the user can select a previous song by selecting theprevious song icon 252 and select a next song by selecting the next songicon 254. The user can also stop the reproduction of the music contentthat is being reproduced by selecting the stop icon 256. The user canalso select to repeatedly reproduce the music content or clear theselection of the repeat reproduction thereof by selecting the repeaticon 258. The user can adjust the volume of a sound that is output froma speaker by selecting the sound volume icon 260.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a condition immediately after the stopicon 256 on the operation panel 250 is selected by the user. When thestop icon 256 of the operation panel 250 is selected by the user, theinstruction acquisition unit 94 acquires an instruction input forstopping the reproduction of the music content that is being reproduced.When acquiring the instruction input, the application-program executionunit 70 stops the music reproduction program and stops the reproductionof the music content. The menu constituting unit 110 configures thefirst system menu by deleting the icon 240 for display duringreproduction from the third system menu. The menu-screen generating unit108 generates the first system menu screen 120, which includes a part ofthe configured first system menu.

The menu constituting unit 110 configures the first system menu bydeleting, from the third system, the icon 240 for display duringreproduction menu at this time. As shown in FIG. 12, the menu-screengenerating unit 108 generates the first system menu screen 120 such asone that is obtained by deleting, from the third system menu screen 210displayed when the icon 240 for display during reproduction was selectedduring reproduction, only the icon 240 for display during reproductionand by moving up by one the content icons, which were located below theicon 240 for display during reproduction in the content icon array 123.In other words, the folder icon 242 that was arranged under the icon 240for display during reproduction is arranged in the attention area 135 sothat the folder icon 244 is moved up by one. The folder icon 246 thatwas hidden under the folder icon 244 is displayed under the folder icon244.

Described above is an explanation based on the exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention. The embodiment is intended to be illustrativeonly, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications to constituting elements and processes could be developedand that such modifications are also within the scope of the presentinvention. A detailed description is now given of modifications.

In the exemplary embodiment, a menu screen is configured so that theintersection area 124 is located immediately above the attention area135. As a modification thereof, the menu screen may be configured sothat, for example, the intersection area 124 is located immediatelybelow or in the periphery of the attention area 135, as long as itprovides an arrangement with which a user can easily check a functionicon while paying attention to an attention icon.

A multimedia player 20 of the exemplary embodiment is configured so thatthe intersection area 124 and the attention area 135 are located nearthe centers of the first system menu screen 120, the second system menuscreen 170, and the third system menu screen 210. In a modification, thepositions where the intersection area 124 and the attention area 135 aredisplayed may be freely determined by a user.

The multimedia player 20 of the exemplary embodiment displays a menuscreen for providing instructions as to content reproduction, on theexternally connected television set 30. As a modification thereof, themultimedia player may be a portable multifunctional device, whichcomprises a display integrated with the player. Also, the multimediaplayer may be implemented by a personal computer executing computerprograms for providing various functions described in the exemplaryembodiment.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention allows for a user to be provided with a unifieduser interface in terms of a menu screen.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 multimedia reproduction system

2 multimedia player

30 television set

42 controller

44 home button

64 memory unit

66 display output unit

68 display control unit

70 application-program execution unit

94 instruction acquisition unit

108 menu-screen generating unit

110 menu constituting unit

The invention claimed is:
 1. A menu screen display method, comprising:acquiring a first menu display instruction from a user requesting thatan operating system program generate a first operating system menuscreen to be displayed on a display screen, wherein the first menudisplay instruction is produced by the user pressing a button of acomputer processing device or a peripheral device connected theretowithout interaction with any icon of the display screen; outputting thefirst operating system menu screen for display on the display screen inresponse to the first menu display instruction, where the firstoperating system menu screen is generated by the operating systemprogram on the computer processing device, and where the first operatingsystem menu screen includes a content icon that is selectable by a userto cause the computer processing device to run the application program;acquiring a second menu display instruction from the user requestingthat the operating system program generate a second operating systemmenu screen to be displayed on the display screen while the applicationprogram is running, wherein the second menu display instruction isproduced by the user pressing the button of the computer processingdevice or the peripheral device connected thereto without interactionwith the content icon of the display screen; generating, by theoperating system program, the second operating system menu screen inresponse to the second menu display instruction while the applicationprogram is running, wherein the second operating system menu screenincludes the content icon and an instruction icon for receiving auser-selected instruction to the running application program; andoutputting the second operating system menu screen for display on thedisplay screen such that the content icon and instruction icon arespaced apart from one another on the display screen.
 2. The menu screendisplay method according to claim 1, wherein outputting the secondoperating system menu screen includes that the instruction icon islocated adjacent to the content icon among a plurality of content iconssuch that all are displayed in a linear array.
 3. The menu screendisplay method according to claim 2, wherein outputting the secondoperating system menu screen includes that the linear array isvertically oriented with respect to the user's point of view and thearray may be scrolled via user input in order to select the instructionicon.
 4. The menu screen display method according to claim 1, whereinthe operating system program causes the second operating system menuscreen to be superimposed over an application program image generated bythe running application program in response to the menu displayinstruction being acquired by the operating system program.
 5. The menuscreen display method according to claim 1, wherein the instruction iconand the content icon are graphically mixed such that visual elements ofboth the content icon and instruction icon are visible within a frame ofa single icon.
 6. The menu screen display method according to claim 1,wherein the instruction icon is an end icon for terminating theapplication program, and the method further comprising: acquiring aselection of the end icon displayed on the second operating system menuscreen from the user; and terminating, when the selection of the endicon is acquired, the running application program and outputting thefirst operating system menu screen for display by deleting the end iconfrom the second operating system menu screen.
 7. The menu screen displaymethod according to claim 1, further comprising: acquiring a selectionof a further content icon displayed on the second operating system menuscreen from the user; and running a further application program, whichcorresponds to the selected further content icon in addition to runningthe application program.
 8. The menu screen display device according toclaim 7, further comprising: acquiring an input-screen displayinstruction from the user requesting that the operating system programgenerate an instruction-input screen for entering an instruction to thefurther application program while the further application program isrunning and while the application program is running; generating, by theoperating system program, the instruction-input screen in response tothe input-screen display instruction while the further applicationprogram is running and while the application program is running; andoutputting for display the instruction-input screen for entering theinstruction to the further application program such that the secondoperating system menu screen is not displayed.
 9. A menu screen displaydevice, comprising: a microprocessor executing an operating systemprogram; an acquisition unit working in conjunction with saidmicroprocessor and configured to acquire a first menu displayinstruction from a user requesting that an operating system programgenerate a first operating system menu screen to be displayed on adisplay screen, wherein the first menu display instruction is producedby the user pressing a button of a computer processing device or aperipheral device connected thereto without interaction with any icon ofthe display screen; an outputting unit operating to output the firstoperating system menu screen for display, where the first operatingsystem menu screen is generated by the operating system in response tothe first menu display instruction on the microprocessor, and where thefirst operating system menu screen includes a content icon that isselectable by a user to cause the microprocessor to run the applicationprogram; the acquisition unit working in conjunction with saidmicroprocessor and configured to acquire a second menu displayinstruction from the user requesting that the operating system programgenerate a second operating system menu screen to be output for displayon the display screen while the application program is running, whereinthe second menu display instruction is produced by the user pressing thebutton of the computer processing device or the peripheral deviceconnected thereto without interaction with the content icon of thedisplay screen; and a menu-screen generating unit working in conjunctionwith said microprocessor and configured to: (i) generate, by theoperating system program, the second operating system menu screen inresponse to the second menu display instruction while the applicationprogram is running, wherein the second operating system menu screenincludes the content icon and an instruction icon for receiving auser-selected instruction to the running application program, and (ii)cause the outputting unit to output the second operating system menuscreen for display on the display screen such that the content icon andinstruction icon are spaced apart from one another on the displayscreen.
 10. A menu screen display method, comprising: acquiring a firstmenu display instruction from a user requesting that an operating systemprogram generate a first operating system menu screen to be displayed ona display screen, wherein the first menu display instruction is producedby the user pressing a button of a computer processing device or aperipheral device connected thereto without interaction with any icon ofthe display screen; outputting the first operating system menu screenfor display on the display screen in response to the first menu displayinstruction, where the first operating system menu screen is generatedby an operating system program on the computer processing device, andwhere the first operating system menu screen includes a content iconthat is selectable by a user to cause the computer processing device torun the application program; acquiring a second menu display instructionfrom the user requesting that the operating system program generate asecond operating system menu screen to be displayed on the displayscreen while the application program is running, wherein the second menudisplay instruction is produced by the user pressing the button of thecomputer processing device or the peripheral device connected theretowithout interaction with the content icon of the display screen;generating, by the operating system program, the second operating systemmenu screen in response to the second menu display instruction while theapplication program is running, wherein the second operating system menuscreen includes a further content icon that is selectable by the user tocause the computer processing device to run a further applicationprogram and outputting the second operating system menu screen fordisplay on the display screen; acquiring a selection of the furthercontent icon displayed on the second operating system menu screen fromthe user; running the further application program, which corresponds tothe selected further content icon in addition to running the applicationprogram; acquiring an operation-panel display instruction from the userrequesting that the operating system program generate an operation-panelinput screen for entering an instruction to the further applicationprogram while the further application program is running and while theapplication program is running; generating, by the operating systemprogram, the operation-panel input screen in response to theoperation-panel display instruction while the further applicationprogram is running and while the application program is running; andoutputting for display the operation-panel input screen for entering theinstruction to the further application program such that the secondoperating system menu screen is not displayed.
 11. The menu screendisplay method according to claim 10, wherein: the application programis a reproduction application program for reproducing content includingat least one of still image content and moving image content; and thefurther application program is a reproduction application program forreproducing music content.
 12. The menu screen display method accordingto claim 11, further comprising: acquiring the operation-panel displayinstruction via selection of an operation-panel display icon by theuser; outputting for display the operation-panel input screen when theselection of the operation-panel display icon is acquired; acquiringinstruction input from the user to the operation-panel input screenregarding a reproduction state of music content; terminating the furtherapplication program, when the instruction input includes an instructionfor stopping the further application program; and outputting for displaythe first operating system menu screen by deleting the operation-panelinput screen from the display.
 13. A menu screen display device,comprising: a microprocessor executing an operating system program; anacquisition unit working in conjunction with said microprocessor andconfigured to acquire a first menu display instruction from a userrequesting that an operating system program generate a first operatingsystem menu screen to be displayed on a display screen, wherein thefirst menu display instruction is produced by the user pressing a buttonof a computer processing device or a peripheral device connected theretowithout interaction with any icon of the display screen; an outputtingunit operating to output the first operating system menu screen fordisplay, where the first operating system menu screen is generated bythe operating system in response to the first menu display instructionon the microprocessor, and where the first operating system menu screenincludes a content icon that is selectable by a user to cause themicroprocessor to run the application program; the instructionacquisition unit configured to acquire a second menu display instructionfrom the user requesting that the operating system program generate asecond operating system menu screen to be displayed on the displayscreen while the application program is running, wherein the second menudisplay instruction is produced by the user pressing the button of thecomputer processing device or the peripheral device connected theretowithout interaction with the content icon of the display screen; amenu-screen generating unit configured to: (i) generate, by theoperating system program, the second operating system menu screen inresponse to the second menu display instruction while the applicationprogram is running, wherein the second operating system menu screenincludes a further content icon that is selectable by the user to causethe computer processing device to run a further application program and,(ii) output the second operating system menu screen for display on thedisplay screen, wherein: the instruction acquisition unit acquires aselection of the further content icon displayed on the second operatingsystem menu screen from the user; the microprocessor runs the furtherapplication program, which corresponds to the selected further contenticon in addition to running the application program; the instructionacquisition unit acquires an operation-panel display instruction fromthe user requesting that the operating system program generate anoperation-panel input screen for entering an instruction to the furtherapplication program while the further application program is running andwhile the application program is running; the microprocessor generates,by the operating system program, the operation-panel input screen inresponse to the operation-panel display instruction while the furtherapplication program is running and while the application program isrunning; and the outputting unit outputs the operation-panel inputscreen for entering the instruction to the further application programsuch that the display displays the operation-panel input screen withoutdisplaying the second operating system menu screen.
 14. The menu screendisplay method according to claim 1, wherein the first operating systemmenu screen is generated by the operating system program in response toa condition in which a given application program is not running on thecomputer processing device.
 15. The menu screen display device accordingto claim 14, wherein: the application program is a reproductionapplication program for reproducing content including at least one ofstill image content and moving image content; and the furtherapplication program is a reproduction application program forreproducing music content.
 16. The menu screen display device accordingto claim 15, wherein: the instruction acquisition unit acquires theoperation-panel display instruction via selection of an operation-paneldisplay icon by the user; the outputting unit outputs theoperation-panel input screen such that the display displays theoperation-panel input screen when the selection of the operation-paneldisplay icon is acquired; the instruction acquisition unit acquiresinstruction input from the user to the operation-panel input screenregarding a reproduction state of music content; the microprocessorterminates the further application program, when the instruction inputincludes an instruction for stopping the further application program;and the menu-screen generating unit causes the outputting unit to outputthe first operating system menu screen such that the operation-panelinput screen is deleted from the display.